Tree - Crop - Soil interaction in Agroforestry system

Agroforestry is one of the sustainable approaches to land use management where both agriculture and forestry combine into an integrated production system to get maximum benefits. Improvement in soil fertility under agroforestry systems occurs mainly through addition of plant biomass. However, in certain situations trees may have an adverse effect on soils. The magnitude of benefits or adverse effects depends on a number of site-specific factors and attributes of associated tree species. In simultaneous agroforestry systems, trees and food crops interact in many ways, leading to positive and negative impacts on the growth of both tree and crop. The balance between negative and positive interactions determines the overall effect of interactions in a given agroforestry system and helps in doubling the farmers income.